A technician recovers refrigerant to dispose of a 20-pound residential split system. Which record does 40 CFR 82.156(a)(3) require, and for how long?
For a full charge of more than 5 and less than 50 pounds: the company name, appliance location, date of recovery and refrigerant type, kept for three years, plus monthly totals and any transfers for reclamation or destruction.
- No records are required for this size of system
- A leak rate calculation, kept for one year
- The customer's signature on the work order, kept for five years
- Location, date and refrigerant type, kept three yearsCorrect answer
Why “Location, date and refrigerant type, kept three years” is correct
For disposal of appliances with more than 5 and less than 50 pounds of refrigerant, technicians must record the company name, appliance location, date of recovery and refrigerant type, plus monthly totals and transfers for reclamation or destruction. Records are kept for three years.
Source: 40 CFR 82.156(a)(3); EPA: Section 608 Q&A
Why the other answers are wrong
- No records are required for this size of system — Disposal of a 5 to 50 pound appliance does require records.
- A leak rate calculation, kept for one year — Leak rate records are tied to leak repair on larger appliances, not disposal of this unit.
- The customer's signature on the work order, kept for five years — A customer signature is not the required record, and the period is three years.
The source, word for word
As of January 1, 2018, technicians evacuating refrigerant from appliances with a full charge of more than 5 and less than 50 pounds of refrigerant for purposes of disposal of that appliance must keep records documenting the following for three years:
The company name, location of the appliance, date of recovery, and type of refrigerant recovered for each appliance;
The three records
The rule asks for one record per appliance and two running totals.
- For each appliance: company name, location, date of recovery and refrigerant type.
- Each calendar month: the total recovered from all disposed appliances, by refrigerant type.
- For each transfer: the quantity by type sent for reclamation or destruction, who received it, and the date.
Records under other rules
A final processor keeps signed statements or contracts for three years under a separate rule, the final-processor duty (40 CFR 82.155(c)). Records required by the leak repair rules are also kept for at least three years, unless the rule says otherwise (40 CFR 82.157(l)).
Keep practicing
- EPA refrigerant recovery rules
- Who verifies refrigerant is removed before disposal
- What the venting ban requires at disposal
- EPA 608 Core practice test
Unofficial, not affiliated with the EPA or any EPA-approved certifying organization. Questions are original practice written from public EPA material, not real exam questions.